Ten Three Labs

Hiya! Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween yesterday! Speaking of the spook-tacular, I want to introduce you all to a super-cool, new indie cosmetic collection called Ten Three Labs. (10/03 also happens to be my bday, woo woo!)

Cara, the owner, makes and packages the products herself. I love that about small, independent operations. So much care is put into the creation and presentation. It's also very satisfying knowing that I'm getting a domestically-made product!

First of all, I was thoroughly charmed by the package design. It conjures up imagery of some magical, gothic/victorian apothecary. In addition to cosmetics, included in my package were whimsical little extras, such as candy, flower seeds, and a novelty, fortune-telling fish. (I always wanted one of those) It's the little things and attention to detail which makes me develop an affinity for certain brands.

The shadows are richly pigmented in a variety of deep, earthy colors to brights to pastels. The full-sized jars will probably last me a lifetime, while the generous sample bags will probably last for many, many applications. You're getting so much product for such a great price, this is seriously a steal!

I haven't tried the balms yet, but they look and smell wonderful. I'm sure I won't be disappointed, but I'll update you all on my experience with them once I get a chance to try them.

Here is a look I did with some of the shadows. Products listed below.

I did a soft, romantic look using a combination of pink and grey...one of my all-time, favorite color combos.

Products used:

• Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden
• Etude House black gel eyeliner
• Eyeko Making Eyes gel pencils in Dove Grey and Powder Pink
• Ten Three Labs shadows in Shelley's Big Eye and Antoinette
• Eyemimo Cosmetics eyelashes in GLM13

I love the way the pale pink looks on my lower lash line. I have small eyes and doing this creates a brightening, eye-opening effect!

Head on over to Ten Three Labs to check out Cara's wonderful, handmade beauty products! I highly recommend this brand.

Happy Saturday, all!

Hugs,

Cat

*This post contains commercial samples provided by the manufacturer for the purpose of review.

Lashes & Liner

Simple, black, ombre, cat eye liner to showcase Eazy Duz It mink lashes by Luxy Lash.

Eazy Duz It's crisscross design, volume, and length make them very dramatic lashes, yet they're incredibly lightweight, feels like I'm not wearing lashes at all! The liner design that I paired with these lashes is easy to do, yet looks very dramatic, requiring very few products. I'm considering making a tutorial/pictorial for it.

Products used:

• Etude House Drawing Eye Brow Pencil in Dark Gray and gel eyeliner in Black
• Sephora black pencil eyeliner
• Kate Super Sharp liquid eyeliner pen in BK-1
• Eazy Duz It mink lashes by Luxy Lash

Happy hump day everyone! :D

Hugs,

Cat

*This post contains commercial samples provided by the manufacturer for the purpose of review.

Etude House Sale on Cosmetic Love

Hey, everyone! Hope this doesn't come too late, but Cosmetic Love is having a sale on all Etude House products. 20% off and, as always, free international shipping! I'm stocking up on my favorite eyebrow pencils as well as trying some new items. I think the sale ends some time tomorrow, but my time zone is so far from theirs, so I'm not 100% sure.

I hope at least some of you will get your hands on some Etude House goodies before the sale ends, but, even so, their products are pretty affordable, about $5-$12 per item. Have a good night and happy shopping! :3

Hugs,
Cat

Faking Full Brows

Hi guys! I just wanted to test out a new tutorial format that I've been working on. I figured I'd start putting my graphic design skills to work and create cute, colorful makeup tutorial diagrams that are fun to look at and easy to follow. Here is my first one!

My Etude House Drawing Eyebrow Pencil is probably one of my most favorite things in the world. I've been using it for a couple years now and have become quite adept at transforming my sad, sorry brows into something fuller and tidier. I especially love the double-ended design with an angled pencil on one side and a spoolie on the other. It's convenient, easy to use, and ridiculously affordable at less than $6 apiece. 

There are six available shades, so you're sure to find the correct color for yourself. I use #2, gray-brown which is perfect for my coloring and not too reddish like most western brands tend to be. I swear, Asian beauty product developers are geniuses! It's just a matter of time before American/European brands come out with inferior, copycat products that they'll probably charge 5x more for. Ugh. -_-

I get mine from Cosmetic Love, an online beauty supply boutique which exclusively sells Korean brand makeup products. The prices are reasonable and they offer free, worldwide shipping with no minimums.

Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think of my new, proposed tutorial format!

Hugs,

Cat

Etude House Precious Mineral Sun BB Cream

Hi everyone!  Sorry about the disappearing act!  The new school quarter is about to start soon and I've been tying up loose ends in order to prepare!  But to heck with school for now, let's talk about makeup!

As you know, I'm currently using Bright Fit BB Cream from the Etude House Precious Mineral collection.  So far, I've been pretty happy with it.  It comes in a variety of colors, including shades that suit my southeast Asian complexion, it is moisturizing, provides sun protection, is lightweight, and doesn't make me break out.  The only thing that it doesn't do for me is control my oily t-zone and it doesn't last through a good sweat.  Let me explain.  I work out about 6 days a week.  I practice Muay Thai kickboxing and I do Bar Method.  I know that it's kind of lame to wear makeup while working out, but most times, I can't help it.  I have things to do and places to be and makeup is a part of my every day routine, it's the first thing I do when I get out of the shower.  Most days, I don't have time to or it's inconvenient to wash my face prior to hitting the gym.  I wear a lot of waterproof cosmetics, especially around the eyes, therefore makeup removal is a process that requires a number of different products.

So how does one break a sweat while maintaining a perfect complexion?  Well it seems that Etude House has answered that question with their Precious Mineral Sun BB Cream.  It's a supposed to be a sweat resistant BB cream that's made for more active lifestyles.  It's moisturizing, has very high sun protection (SPF 50), and claims to be waterproof.  It also comes in 3 shades.  Sounds too good to be true!  I had to order a tube to try from Cosmetic Love!

You get a little less for your money here...about half the amount of product for $2USD more than the Bright Fit BB Cream.  But I think it's still worth the money if it does what it's supposed to do.  My cost was $18.45USD for 35g, free shipping and tax free from Cosmetic Love.

It comes with an attached sponge applicator.  A novel idea, but something I found inconvenient and unwieldly.  Judging by the texture, I didn't think I'd be able to apply the product efficiently nor evenly using this method.

Never fear!  You are given the option to unscrew the sponge cap and squeeze product out straight from the tube.  My favorite application method is with my fingertips!

I purchased a tube of Sun BB Cream in the darkest available shade, Sand Beige.  Even so, it looks to be a shade lighter than my current color, which is the second to darkest shade among the Bright Fit BB creams, Honey Beige.  I was a little concerned when I noticed this.  The pasty-face look just isn't very flattering on me, nor anyone else, I don't think.  Using foundation that's too light for your complexion can create a rather ghastly effect and looks just too unnatural.

I was apprehensive to try it, but once I applied it, the color seemed to adapt to my complexion.  I still think it's a touch too light, but, unless you look very, very closely, it seems to work.

Notice how it's just a tiny bit lighter than my neck?  No one around me has pointed this out so far, hehe.

In general, I found that Sun BB is a little thicker than Bright Fit BB.  It's a slightly less moisturizing, but it does control oil a bit better.  It also does last longer and is fairly water resistant.  I had some on my hands and washing it off took some effort and I noticed that the water just beads off the cream.  All in all, it's a fairly effective BB cream to wear for warm weather, outdoors, and activity.  I'm happy with it for now, though I'll probably switch back to Bright Fit when the weather gets cooler.

TGIF everyone!

Hugs,
Cat

Semi-comprehensive BB Cream comparison

Hello hello!  Thought I'd do a practical post today for a change.  I've been really experimenting with my foundation routine this summer and I think I *finally* found the right combination of products that work best with my combination skin. (although I do tend to have some sort of cosmetic revelation every couple months, lol)

Left to right: CG Smoothers Tinted Moisturizer Light/Medium, Missha Perfect Cover BB No. 23, ElishaCoy Premium Gold Mineral BB, ElishaCoy Always Nuddy BB, Etude House Precious Mineral Bright Fit BB.

Some of you are probably aware that I was using CG Smoothers tinted moisturizer for the longest time because I figured that BB cream was synonymous with tinted moisturizer.  They're actually a bit different.  I found that, in general, BB cream is more like a liquid foundation with moisturizing and, sometimes, sun protection properties.  Tinted moisturizer tends to be more fluid in consistency and sheer in coverage, whereas BB cream is thicker and creamier with fuller coverage.

This year, I've had the opportunity to try 4 different BB creams from 3 different manufacturers in order to compare with tinted moisturizer and amongst one another.  Here are some swatches so that you can observe the variation in hues:

 Here's the breakdown of characteristics per product plus my own personal views:

CG Smoothers Tinted Moisturizer Light/Medium
- lightweight
- fragrance free
- non-comedogenic
- SPF 15
- variety of colors
- VERY sheer coverage (I HAD to use powder foundation over it for an even complexion, I considered it more of a foundation primer than anything else)

Missha Perfect Cover BB No. 23
- medium to full coverage
- pleasant fragrance
- variety of colors (I chose No. 23, the darkest shade available at the time, though I probably would have done better with No. 27)
- SPF 42
- thick consistency, very heavy feeling upon application
- ashy in color (did not work well with my strong yellow undertones)
- made my oily t-zone look even more oily

ElishaCoy Premium Gold Mineral BB
- medium coverage
- SPF 45
- thick consistency, somewhat heavy feeling upon application
- only one color option
- very light colored (did not work with my medium/tan southeast Asian complexion)
- did not work with oily t-zone

ElisaCoy Always Nuddy BB 24
- light to medium coverage (can be used with or without finishing powder)
- subtle, citrus scent
- lightweight texture, non-greasy finish
- works well with oily skin
- only one color option
- one to two shades too light for me, unfortunately
- no sun protection

Etude House Precious Mineral Bright Fit BB in Honey Beige
- medium to full coverage
- fragrance free
- lightweight feeling
- variety of colors (I chose the second to darkest shade)
- works well with combination skin
- SPF 30

So which one worked best for me?  It's probably pretty obvious that the Etude House Precious Mineral Bright Fit BB in Honey Beige is my favorite!

Happy Face = Happy Me!

The color blends well with my yellow undertones for a naturally flawless finish.  It's moisturizing, so I can skip my daily moisturizer, yet doesn't feel oily or heavy.  I can wear it alone for a dewy finish, or dust a little sheer powder on top for a matte look.  Coverage is buildable, so I can make adjustments necessary for a natural look or for a photo-finish face.  I've been using it for 3 weeks now and haven't experienced a single breakout.

I'm not completely writing off the other BB creams.  Mostly, it was more of a color-matching problem, which isn't the fault of the product.  Also, my skin gets really dry in cold weather, so I might make the switch to one of the heavier BB creams in the winter time.

Anyways, that's the skinny on my BB cream experience so far.  Hope some of you found it helpful!  Have a great Wednesday!

Hugs,
Cat

FFOTD!

FFOTD...is there such thing?  Well, if there isn't, there is now!  Face AND fashion of the day!  Got a busy day ahead of me and thought I'd do something simple, but spectacular!  Well...I wouldn't call myself spectacular, but I like using alliteration. :)  So I went for my favorite go-to look of the summer, neutral eyes with a color-pop lip:

Yes, I'm still in my sleep tee...lol!

Gawd!  My hair is getting so unmanageably LONG!  Which is why I'm off to Danny's for a haircut today.  Will post my new 'do tonight! :D  But, anyhoo...here's the breakdown of today's makeup look:

FACE

Etude House Precious Mineral BB Cream Bright Fit in Honey Beige

(been slow to post the review on this...sorry!)

BROWS

Etude House Drawing Eyebrow Pencil in Dark Gray

EYES

Coastal Scents 28 Neutral Palette

CHEEKS
ELF Studio Blush in Pink Passion

LIPS

Revlon Lip Butter in Sweet Tart

Feelin' kinda blah today because the weather is on the cooler side...below 70 degrees F, so I figured I'd liven things up with some colorful denim:

As you can see, my fashion photographer has been too busy to fulfill his duties as of late, so you guys are going to have to bear with these self-shots via iPhone for awhile, lol.  Hope you don't mind!  The cami and cardigan are from Hollister, mint denim (although they look more aqua here) is from ASOS Petite Collection, and the linen bow slingback heels are by Rampage.

Hope everyone's having a good hump day (Wednesday) so far!  Can't wait to show off the new hair later!

Hugs,

Cat

Etude House Drawing Eye Brow Pencil

Guess what?  I just discovered my new favorite thing: the Drawing Eye Brow Pencil by Etude House.  I found out about it through my other new favorite thing, CosmeticLove, an amazing web boutique dedicated to Asian-brand makeup products!

This amazing little pencil comes in 6 colors: dark brown, gray brown, brown, gray, dark gray, and black.  One problem that I've always found with American-brand brow products is that they tend to be on the reddish side.  I have very dark brown hair, nearly black with very little red, therefore it looks somewhat awkward when my brows have a red-brown tinge.  I was particularly interested in the gray brown shade, I felt like an ashy, dark brown would suit my coloring perfectly.  Unfortunately, that's the only color that isn't stocked at CosmeticLove, so I ended up buying it from eBay for about $7 and it arrived in 7-10 business days from the time it was ordered, not bad.  It also came with some bb cream samples:

The pencil itself is a twist-up design and has a flat, angled shape that reminds me of an angled brow/liner brush:

On the other end is a conveniently placed spoolie:

It's not news that I have painfully sparse brows that need filling in on a daily basis.  Some have suggested that I get my brows tattooed, but that's just too much of a commitment for me.  I'm also a big wuss when it comes to pain, lol!  I found, upon first use of the Drawing Eye Brow Pencil, that it's a very simple and precise tool that makes defining brows a cinch!  I start with bare brows:

Then, using the flat, angled pencil, I gently fill in my brows to the desired shape and fullness with light, short strokes:

Next, I use the spoolie end to evenly distribute color and groom my brow hairs:

That's pretty much it...an easy, 2-step process.  It's a subtle, but noticeable difference:

I am sooooooooo loving this pencil!  I don't think I can go back to my old pencil and powder routine!  Hope some of you found this review useful and that you're enjoying this lovely Sunday afternoon! :D

Hugs,

Cat